Phoebe Snow

Phoebe Snow - Live - 2008 - Verve Forecast

Phoebe Snow is a complex legend in the history of late 20th century popular music. Her first single, "Poetry Man," was her biggest hit back in 1974, but she issued a run of critically successful albums during the rest of the decade, and has recorded quite sparsely since then. This live set on Verve, recorded over two nights in July of 2008 at the historical Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, NY, is her first major-label album in almost 20 years; it is also her very first in-concert offering. Snow refers to herself as a bit of a "kook" in accounting for her absence, but the truth is far more complex and beautiful. She spent the last 31 years caring for her daughter who was severely brain injured at birth. She passed away in March of 2008, and Snow has returned to performing to insure that her own grief doesn't claim her, too. Snow arrived on the scene a fully developed artist after playing in Greenwich Village clubs before her first album. She shows up on this 11-song set the same as ever: vocally dynamic, with a deeply disciplined voice that can be as acrobatic as she likes, while performing an array of originals and covers that meld soul, pop, jazz, blues, and folk backed by an empathic band of longtime collaborators including guitarist Roger Butterley and bassist Bob Glaub. Her voice is as rich and varied in 2008 as it was in 1974. Her emotional commitment to the material hasn't waned a bit either. The fire is there, whether she is singing a poignant, joyful love song like "Poetry Man," a hymn of longing disguised as a poppish original like "Something Real," a stolid rhythm & blues fueled rocker like Huey "Piano" Smith's "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu," or the jazz tinged standard "It's All in the Game." There are some real surprises as well, in a pair of tunes in the center of her set that come from her most recent, little-known, independently released album Natural Wonder: the tile track and the stellar, soulish "The Other Girlfriend." Snow has always been enigmatic and unafraid to take chances. That's evident in her very unique reading of the Jerry Ragavoy-penned "Piece of My Heart," so closely associated with the late Janis Joplin. If all this weren't enough, she closes with a gorgeous version of the Rodgers & Hart nugget "With a Song in My Heart." She connects with each of these songs and in her stage banter, she communicates fiercely and directly with a voice that is simply a force of nature. For those of us who admire and celebrate Snow's considerable gifts as a singer and songwriter, we can only hope this return is not an isolated incident, but an active resumption of a career steeped in artistic excellence. Thom Jurek © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-r1423907/review

Since her self-titled debut album in 1974, the late Phoebe Snow has remained one of the most distinctive voices in popular music. That 1974 album has become one of the most acclaimed debut albums of all time. It produced the great hit single, "Poetry Man," winning her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist and established her as a great singer/songwriter. The 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide said "One of the most gifted voices of her generation, Phoebe Snow can do just about anything stylistically as well as technically ... The question that's still unanswered is how best to channel such talent." This live album of blues, folk, jazz, and soul was recorded live at The Bearsville Theater, Woodstock, NY on July 30th & 31st 2008, and deserves to be heard by ever lover of great music. Buy her terrific "Second Childhood" album, and also the outstanding "New York Rock And Soul Revue Live At The Beacon Theater In New York City" album, which was a live concert organized by Donald Fagen in 1992, and features Phoebe, and many other musical legends. Check out her "Rock Away" album @ PHBSNO/RCKAY

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Shakey Ground - Bond, Bowen, Hazel 4:11
2 Something Real - Snow 3:33
3 It's All in the Game - Dawes, Dawes, Sigman 4:53
4 If I Can Just Get Through Tonight - Anders 4:53
5 Poetry Man Snow - 5:22
6 You're My Girl - Snow 6:03
7 Natural Wonder - Snow, Yowell 4:07
8 The Other Girlfriend - McMahon, Snow 5:01
9 Piece of My Heart - Berns, Ragavoy 5:14
10 Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu - Smith 4:34
11 With a Song in My Heart - Hart, Rodgers 4:55

MUSICIANS

Phoebe Snow RIP - Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Roger Butterley - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Mandolin, Vocals
John Korba - Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, Piano, Vocals
Bob Glaub - Bass
John Gilutin - Keyboards, Organ (Hammond), Percussion
Clint DeGanon - Drums, Percussion
Fonzi Thornton - Vocals

BIO

Renowned for her elastic contralto and jazz scat vocal gymnastics, singer Phoebe Snow was born Phoebe Laub on July 17, 1952, in New York City. During her childhood in Teaneck, NJ, she initially studied piano, but switched to the guitar in her teens, writing poetry that gradually mutated into her first songs. Overcoming her stage fright, Snow began playing Greenwich Village clubs in the early '70s, honing an eclectic set that spotlighted both folk and pop sounds as well as jazz, blues, and even torch songs. After signing to Leon Russell's Shelter label, Snow issued her self-titled debut LP in 1974; on the strength of her Top Five smash "Poetry Man," the album itself rose to the number four position. A tour with Paul Simon followed, along with an appearance on his hit "Gone at Last"; after returning to the studio, Snow emerged in 1976 with Second Childhood, another highly successful effort that, like its predecessor, achieved gold-selling status. Despite a flurry of records throughout the latter half of the decade, including 1977's It Looks Like Snow, 1977's Never Letting Go, and 1978's Against the Grain, Snow receded from view as the 1980s dawned, and following the release of 1981's Rock Away, she did not record again for eight years. Upon signing to Elektra, Snow resurfaced in 1989 with Something Real, followed by a series of New York club appearances as a member of ex-Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen's all-star New York Rock and Soul Revue. Apart from lending her voice to a number of radio and television advertisements, Snow again fell silent in subsequent years, although in 1994 she appeared at Woodstock with a gospel group additionally comprised of Mavis Staples, CeCe Peniston, and Thelma Houston. Three albums were recorded and released during the late '90s and the 2000s: 1998's I Can't Complain, 2003's Natural Wonder, and 2008's Live in Woodstock. After suffering a brain hemorrhage in 2010, Snow passed away in April of the following year. © Jason Ankeny © 2011 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/phoebe-snow-p5469/biography